Friday, 17 May 2013

K-Cap - Performing Forum - Friday (Part 1)

by Patsy Burn

This morning we rose after a late night. The rich food had played havoc
with our digestive systems, our sandwiches were made a little later and
everyone had lost a little spring in their step. A week of travelling
was starting to take it's toll. However, it was good to see that South
African freestyle is alive and well in Durban and we arrived at our 9.30
appointment at 10.10.

Over breakfast and throughout
the bus journey the students nervously recapped over heir forum pieces
which they made over a week ago. The jokers were particularly nervous -
yet again we were entering I chartered waters and didn't know what to
expect. What if they wouldn't interact with the theatre? What if they
didn't understand the plays? What if they just didn't think we were any
good.

When we arrived at K-Cap and shown into the theatre space we
realised how different this place is to our previous work. The large
theatre space is well equipped and felt much more 'structured' than our
previous venues. We decided to split the group into 3 and perform our
three forum pieces about a workplace where a boss is abusing his power,
the sexual politics of relationships and HIV infection and family
relationships. The students were still really nervous - maybe it was
having to work with a group nearer their age and with more theatre
credentials? These are all members of Twist Theatre group who meet here
weekly.

Of course once the groups split
up and started working there was nothing to worry about. All of the
group really enjoyed the pieces and were quickly reacting and taking
part. The theme sod the plays really seemed to strike a chord with the
participants and they were completely engaged.

In the group exploring sexual politics one girl, Samantha was
particularly engaged and was quickly up on her feet and helping out with
Jenny's story as she tried to avoid sleeping with her boyfriend Oscar.
The main themes seemed to be to look after yourself first and make sure
you feel safe at all times. This lead to really interesting discussion
around sexual politics but also the differences between South African
and British experiences,

The women in the group
seemed to really understand what their rights are and how important
testing for HIV is. They also seemed empowered throughout the discussion
- as it went on feeling more and more comfortable to reveal things
about themselves and their lives. They talked about the clinic where
they get tested and although wearing condoms is promoted they said
abstinence is the main suggestion given to them.

The
men in the group told a different story and even though in the forum
they were suggesting all kinds of strategies to help Jenny the
protagonist out of the pressures she had from friends and boyfriends the
boys said they could relate to Oscar's character - 'If you have a
girlfriend sex is a MUST. You have to get them to do it'. Even more
worryingly they have real problems with getting tested in the clinic -
they find it embarrassing, but also see that by going to the clinic
people will find out that you are having sex at all. 'The nurse is like
our mothers' one person said when asked why he'd never been tested.

The
most shocking thing for me was when they suggested they would find out
their results by their partners being tested - 'if she gets tested and
she's negative, then I know I'm negative'. Their condom etiquette was
also really difficult to imagine saying that you only needed to wear a
condom when having sex with a virgin, 'after that it's ok'.

For
the rest if the sessions the students will be running workshops and
then creating new forum pieces with their groups around the themes that
have come out. But already there's so,e fascinating work happening here.